Andrew Brown
Editor
So here we are watching as nuclear reactors leak radiation, facing one of the worst years of global food production, with soaring fuel and energy prices, and corporate hands reaching through our governments creating Orwellian laws that defy sanity. It’s hard to be optimistic with all of the chaos around us.
I find myself torn between being rabidly informed on everything going on, to wanting to shut it out of my life. The reality is that neither would do much good. Being actively involved in making change is all that we can do, but this of course means that change must first come from within.
We can see the cannabis/hemp plant as a metaphor for the changes we are seeing, and take the wisdom of the plant and apply it to humanity. Plants need the same basic things as humans to grow—sun light, water, food, and air—and if any of these necessities are compromised, the health of the plant is also. But, the cannabis plant is one of the strongest, most resilient plants on the planet. It is being used near Chernobyl to aid in cleaning up the polluted soil—growing tall on the bed of man’s folly. We need to stand tall and grow from our mistakes, leaving blame and resentment as nothing but the contaminants we are leaching from the soil.
It’s hard to create change, but by surrounding ourselves with people who have the same goals and values we are able to empower each other, and grow our network. Sharing our knowledge helps to plant seeds which will eventually grow and reproduce themselves.
One of the first things I learned while getting further involved in cannabis activism is that the plant represents so much more than the “right” to get high. It’s about freedom. It’s about flushing the corruption that has plague the planet for so many years. It’s about working together and seeing our own flaws and working those out. It’s about learning to respect everybody and everything on the same level. It’s about humility. No wonder the governing system is afraid; it threatens the very core of their superficial value system whose teeth have been tearing into us for so long. As their control slips, they tighten up their reign with tougher laws, and further reaching enforcement. But as long as we keep our seeds alive, spreading and sowing them—leading by example—the more people will taste them. And they will like them.
We’ve been watching as a handful of very wealthy people control and manipulate us, while compromising the very resources that keep us alive. Their favorite tool is fear, and if we replace that fear within us with a willingness to work together and an acceptance of our differences, they will become powerless. It is key that we do not support people that support the tyranny, and build from the garden outwards.
Hemp will save the world.
